When Times Change
by Xemtlenc
Summary: [Prelude] Forgiveness or Anger, Moral or Freedom, some choose to face the uncertainties of the Truth while others prefer the comfort of Darkness. But in the end, whether good or bad, our choices will always have consequences over time. Prologue of the "When Times" series, a dark AU story from Life is Strange. [Mostly published at AO3]


**A/N: This story can be considered a prologue, as there is only one chapter, and it's the beginning of a new series. I'm going to be direct, the pairings in this story series are secondary and there's no point arguing, it's my will so if you just came to see Max/Chloe or Rachel/Chloe fluffs, go your way. People forget that Life is Strange is more than a romance story, and I'm always happy to remind you.**

 **This oneshot is in honor to "Farewell". And let me know what you thought about Farewell, Before The Storm and Life is Strange, if you want of course.**

 **As you warn me, English is not my mother tongue and I translate literally, so be indulgent, please.**

 **...**

 **Prologue: Grow**

 _There are feelings that nothing can touch under penalty of Corruption._

 _We determine who we are by our Choices; by choosing one, we crush all other possibilities._

 _What the Caterpillar calls Death, the Butterfly calls it Rebirth._

 **Mockery has become a distraction  
** **We clash each other without paying any attention  
** **Get used only to confrontation  
** **The pleasure of transgression  
** **Anger warms up the discussions  
** **A way to give yourself the big thrill**

Listening to an air of Evanescence, she erases the last rhyme with a small fit of anger. Her creativity was not so good these past few days because of an incident with these dumbass of boys who are bullied her. As she spends all her time drawing or writing poems in her corner, she became an easy target at Acardia Bay Junior High School.

And if that was not enough, since the back to school in September, the tension at home between her parents became electric and not in a good way. The young girl of thirteen spied a conversation from her parents because of one of her _issues_. Her father Ryan had to have a promotion but because of all her absences in class and appointments with the principal (the last one is about a guy wanting to tear her clothes and she stabbed him in the groin area with a fork picked up in the cafeteria), was a young employee who got this promotion and was posted to Seattle.

Her mother Vanessa tries to discipline her but as the little rebel she has become, her relationship with her mother has deteriorated, but she still gets along well with her father ... even if he is sometimes distant.

This is her life, a lonely child with no friends, wearing her eternal long-sleeved jacket and still covering her head with the hood. Her long brown hair covers most of her face and especially her freckles, which she is still mocked. She wanted to lock herself in her room but because of another argument with her mother, she preferred to go out and walk in the city.

In finally returning home, late in the afternoon, she saw a police car parked in front of a half-blue house. She recognizes the policeman Anderson Berry, a friend of Ryan sometimes playing poker at home, talking with a woman at the door.

The woman suddenly collapses on her knees, one hand covering her eyes and the other holding her rounded belly. Upon arriving at their level, she discreetly removes her headphones to listen to a few words from the mouth of the future mother, including the names « ** _William_** » and « ** _Chloe_** » between her tears. The agent Berry does not know what to do to comfort her while remaining professional and he finally puts a hand on her shoulder.

The young teenager does not longer stay in the area for a long time at the risk of being spotted by the cop, she did not really need to hear because she already knows enough. Earlier, she saw what was left of a car accident with the ambulance and all the tinkle, the driver's side being downright crushed by a truck that she heard from the talk of the rescuers.

The end of 2008 is really fucking for the pregnant woman and herself.

* * *

 ** _The human being is the architect of its own destruction._**

* * *

 **Price Household, Arcadia Bay  
September 28, 2008**

Angst ...

It is exactly this feeling that covers the body of Max Caulfield, a budding young photographer who keeps a heavy secret to her best friend. The only thing she can do to try to free herself from this feeling is to wash dirty dishes, which had not been done since William left.

This is another thing that increases her adolescent anxiety. Max can not remember his leaving, she just remembers that Chloe's awesome father offered to put her on a picture with his daughter, to change to be the photographer, and she accepted as she fantasizes about his Polaroid camera.

The next thing she knew was to hold Chloe's hands and that she felt her eyes burn, tears in her cheeks.

Her first absence.

Max did not think it would happen to her, losing an hour of her life (about less than ten minutes in real life but she feels like it was going on for days) and having no memory of what she did. Chloe saw the worry in her friend's eyes. She reminded her, without suspecting Max's anxious thoughts, her distant behavior and her talk about how she will always be there to protect her, that she does not will never give up. If only that could be true.

And that damn filth that does not want to take off this stupid plate.

Max would like to confide in Chloe, but she is hypocritical to ask for advice as she leaves in three days in Seattle. It was her way to be forgiven for abandoning her by playing pirates as if they were still 8-9, just enjoy the last days as if it was the last. Convincing her parents to let their little frail Max spend every morning for breakfast has become a sport for her, Max has become talented at persuading her loving parents with her arguments.

Up and down, right and left, arce of circle around the dirty plate to remove the rest of the breakfast with her forces. To believe that she has everything to use to move the furniture in the demon's lair, uh the attic, maybe she should start doing bodybuilding? She'll have enough time in being alone over there in Seattle, 160 miles away from Chloe.

 _Finally_ , Max puts the last plate finally clean, cutting the flow of the tap and realizing that it has red hands by rubbing and scrubbing. _Once again._

She wipes her hands and tries to calm herself with a few tremors of her fingers. She still feels nervous about some inconvenience since this morning: her absence and the departure of William (which she still does not know where he went), the _shadows_ she thinks she saw in the attic, the butterfly graffiti at the foot from the chimney but which disappeared the second after. The black-haired teenager (with an unsuccessful dye) begins to believe that madness has reached her, a fear she has developed since her paternal uncle became schizophrenic.

The first time she thought she saw a _shadow_ was a few months after meeting Chloe. At first she thought it was the effect of light in the eyes, that she looked bad or that she imagined things after watching a scary movie with her best friend. But she began to have doubts seeing for two seconds a silhouette of a person wrapped in a big black coat, it only lasted two short seconds but it was enough to have a clear image, freeze like the one of her photos.

She would like to talk to her parents, but she is afraid they will send her to the psy. She'd like to talk to Chloe about it, but she's afraid she saw her as a monster. Max is aware that this is an irrational fear but she can not help it, taking control of her thoughts. Well not quite irrational because Max has already spoken to people who were around her at these times, wanting to confirm her visions. She just had pitying looks back.

 _Ok Max, find something to distract you._

William's camera in hand, her hands gradually losing redness win friction, she seeks a subject to capture- _Eww weirdo_ , a subject to immortalize in her photos. Better!

Max finally finds an objective in her vision of a young hunter-photographer, bathed in the light of the setting sun which indicates that it is the ideal moment.

 _Ah ah! You can not escape the awful Long Max Silver, the first mate of the gorgeous Captain Bluebeard!_ , she exclaims to herself as she finds her subject, Chloe's contagious energy dragging her on.

Standing against the corner of the window sill in the living room, not bothering anyone from its presence, a scarlet-red spider quietly leads its life to basking in the sun striking the glass. If she remembers well, this arachnid has a physiology similar to black widows, or even call latrodectus mactans as she did research with Chloe one day to help for a presentation at the elementary school. There are still inconsistencies, it should be a little less than four inches, this species should be black and the abdomen is bigger and looks like three faces of unidentifiable sex, looking (from the left) on the left, in front and on the right. Finally, Max counts six pairs of legs instead of four.

Maybe she discovered a new species? It's worth the shot.

CLICK

She shakes the picture out of habit, knowing that it will not help the photography grow further, but it's a habit she took watching William take pictures.

 _Hmm? what is this blue? Is it in the garden?_ Max sees a blue effect in the background of the photo, giving the spider a blue horn effect to the abdomen. Curious!

She turns to see Chloe on the couch, continuing to draw on her sketchbook, before turning to see the arachnid's absence at the window. Max shrugs as she is not the biggest fan of these animals, she puts the picture on the kitchen table and goes to meet her blonde-haired friend.

Only, our young photographer in the making did not notice that the spider also disappeared from the photograph, she would have also seen that the blue represents the wing of an insect.

"You take the whole place! Move." Max orders her friend to move her legs to sit next to her.

"Nope" Chloe simply replied by putting her legs back on the brown girl's lap.

Max just enjoys this moment, wanting it never to end, with the girl she considers her sister of heart. She has difficulty moving forward, afraid of being rejected or not being enough, afraid to stay that shy girl unable to live an adventure without her best friend. She would like to be able to do more than just support.

"Does William still have to work long in the garage?" she pronounces aloud without noticing it, her thoughts filling her mouth, always unaware of the starting conditions for William to be out of sight in the house.

"Maximus? Dad went looking for Mom, remember?" Chloe looks up from her black notebook, her eyebrow raised, looking at Max suspiciously. "Are you still in the weird phase?"

The pretty fourteen year old blonde is referring to earlier in the morning, which makes Max laugh nervously as she does not quite know what to say for her defense. Chloe stands up and puts a hand on her forehead to check if she has temperature, which could explain her strange behavior since this morning.

The little brunette enjoys the comfort of Chloe's warm hand on her skin, she always played the big sisters protector if Max finds herself against a gang of young or if she is sick. As when she had ten and she scratched her knees trying to do skateboarding for the first time, Max was trying to keep her tears in check and Chloe was carrying her on her back and reassuring her that she's here for her. Max cramped her arms tightly around the neck of the tall blonde, as if she never wanted to leave her.

Earlier, while the blonde was in the bathroom, Max listened to the voicemail message to the answering machine of phone about an altercation between her best friend and a Chloe's classmate named Marisa Rogers. It's time to talk to her about it as Chloe is focused on her, to take this weight off her shoulders, or to tell her that she will soon be leaving town.

And again, Max feels hypocritical about wanting Chloe to confide in her when she's not talking about her own problems. Not to mention that she does not want to break this moment of peace, Max hates to feel so cowardly.

"Chloe, I do not know how to say it" the brunette starts looking everywhere except Chloe, taking a long silent breath before continuing. "So, uh, I have to tell yo-"

But unfortunately, the moment was broken by the opening of the front door, capturing all the attention of Chloe who forgets Max. The blonde gets up hurriedly to meet her parents.

Max feels her courage vanish as quickly as he comes, she does not feel like telling her the awful new to her best friend. She will try tomorrow if the opportunity arises.

The sounds of tears warn him that something is going wrong, Max gets up to see Joyce holding Chloe crying on her knees at the door, police officer Anderson Berry in the background outside. It does not take long for Max to understand that William has a problem, she looks at the cassette player and the picture of Chloe & William as a pirate, then she looks again Joyce and Chloe standing on each other kneeling.

The tears begin to flow as Max realizes they will never see William Price again, loving father and formidable husband, her last memory of him being swept away in the meanders of oblivion.

How could Max tell Chloe that she will not be there to support her with this horrible ordeal? Guilt invades her, knowing how horrible she is.

 **•••**

 **Three days later**

In the darkness of the silent room, a small blue butterfly flies over the exhausted form of Chloe Price, finally landing on the shoulder of the sleeping girl.

The blonde long haired girl was finally overwhelmed by the grief and pain of the loss of a loved one ... of two loved ones even though one still lives but she felt it as an abandonment. She's not mad at Max, Chloe does not blame her for not telling her about the move, she's already been aware of a conversation between her parents. She is not mad at Max for avoiding confrontation, it is in her nature to avoid problems.

Chloe is furious with Vanessa and Ryan Caulfield, they could not even wait one day to leave the city, taking her best friend away from her forever. She does not care if she is unreasonable, she is not in a position to face this misfortune alone.

Her uncle Aaron Price and aunt Linda Price left faster than Max's parents, as they live on the other side of the country and work the next day.

But some of her tears, a part of Chloe is angry at Max to abandon her. She knows it's unfair, but she can not help it, it's easier to blame someone who isn't present anymore than against herself.

The only thing left of her ex-best friend now is a word she has wrinkled containing the words « **I'm Sorry** » on her cassette player, containing a clunky short audio message saying that Max is sorry for not having found the right moment to tell her that she is moving and that she feels like a coward, apologizing for being such a bad friend.

Unconsciously, Chloe feels slightly better in her sleep with the butterfly on her shoulder, as if this insect takes away some of the girl's pain. The blue-winged butterfly suddenly flies away, feeling a silent danger, flies toward the closing window and crosses it as if the window has never existed.

From the point of view of the outside, one hand leaning against the other window behind the bed, a figure in a black coat observes the sleeping girl in fetal position on the floor. The person squeezes its hand in fist, trying to scratch the glass with its black painted nails with a small red skull, several parts of hand glitches before returning to normal.

The shadow still observes Chloe's form, a red spider on the hood of the unknown, and they both disappear in a green, red and blue glitch.

* * *

 _ **Friendship and Love are never acquired, it is a daily struggle to keep this flame alive.**_

* * *

"Fuck"

She growls in annoyance after trying to quell her cough. The young teenager has recently started smoking but she still has not caught the hand to breathe the smoke, she must learn by herself as her number of friends has multiplied to the starting number: always to zero.

This is too a new way to upset her mother, having heard her speak with her father about how today's youth is not only lazy, selfish and intolerant, but they must not only ruin their health with the alcohol and drugs. So, as her mother is a perfect example of tolerance and kindness, she figured she should start smoking before going to the next level.

She stealthily leans her head to see that there is no one nearby, hiding behind the corner of the main building of the high school. Finally accepted at the famous Blackwell Academy since mid-July thanks to a scholarship, her life has not changed totally in frequenting a prestigious establishment, at least the students are a little less stupid.

Crushing the end of her cigarette from the tip of the shoe, she kicks in to hide it behind a bush and readjusts her clothes. Her style has evolved a little over the year, in a mix of girly with gothic, her outfit today features a dark blue sweater with two large purple stripes and the shape of a skull in thug mode. She also wears a small beige shorts with purple thigh-high socks and black stripes stopping above the knees, as well as a pair of tennis shoes. She did not put the hood of her jacket on her head, to change her habits.

She readjusted her blue kerchief at pattern covering the top of her head to check if the knot is still well attached, her long brown hair capped in two macaroons, she takes a deodorant from her worn backpack to sprinkle on herself, hiding the bad smell of the cigarette. She checks on the mirror of her compact if she is presentable, and finally come out of hiding.

Taking the path to the fountain holding her arms crossed against her belly as if she was protecting herself from the rest of the world, another habit she has taken over time, she scratches her left eyelid as she often has something that scratch her to the eye for a few years. Well, it does not happen often but it bothers her and she would like it to stop.

"... you'll have to do something someday, or you'll become a stalker looking at her from afar" she hears a conversation between two girls sitting on the edge of the fountain, one with auburn short hair and the other with green hair while wearing a beret.

Always curious but not wanting to be seen as a nosy, she continues her way and sits on the other side of the fountain. She pretends to check the bandage on her right thigh is not likely to leave, or the plaster under her left eye is still there, and she can continue to listen to the girls' chatter.

"It's been almost a year since she was transferred, Meg. She quickly climbed the social classes, it would surprise me that the popular Rachel Amber is interested in a geek like me."

"You do not know, Gingrich, the stereotypes are overrated in our time" Meg gives a little nudge, then she sees a familiar figure and makes her a friendly wave. "Hi Maxine."

The 14-year-old brunette slightly jumps at the thought of being caught in the act of snooping, she gives a vague sign back to the two girls and rises up quickly to avoid remonstrances. Unfortunately she does not see the pair of girl watching her leave with concern, not understanding why she is constantly fleeing the company of others.

Rushing into the bathroom, Maxine checks to see if there is anyone else in the room opening all the cabins and once she is sure she is alone, she can breathe and begin her anxiety attack without being spotted by a brat.

She had nothing special against Megan Weaver and Stephanie Gingrich, she was able to learn that they are nice girls and nothing to do with people Maxine categorized as "stupid-people-having-no-remorse-to-nag-others". But she's not stupid, « _ **good intentions run through hell**_ » and she has known people with easy smiles, saying they'll be nice to her. These are the same with whom she ended up having to wear bandages and plasters.

So she'd rather be suspicious than be hurt or disappointed again.

Maxine Caulfield would have liked to know someone she would have called her best friend, where they would make fools or pirates without worrying about the consequences and just being themselves. But contrary to what the priest tells the church that her mother forced her to go on Sundays, she does not seem destined to be loved.

 _Rachel Amber, right?_ , Maxine looks in the mirror, tugged a strand of hair behind her right ear, touching the black feather of a raven she picked up a few months ago in the junkyard of the city, she usually finds peace when she wants to disconnect from the world.

All she could learn about Rachel by _hanging around_ is that she is the teachers's favorite, having the highest grades and she is loved by all students. A girl who will come to have everything she wants in life, only by moving her little finger.

" **I. Hate. You.** " Maxine can not stop these words coming out of her mouth, jealousy flooding her veins.

She takes the switchblade in the pocket of her jacket and marks these words in the mirror. She signs « **Noir Angel - 10/07/09** » under the words of hate and strangely, Maxine already feels better expressing her frustration with this graffiti.

A small part of Maxine would like to attend Rachel's reaction in seeing her graffiti, knowing that a person in the Bay does not lick her perfect princess bony ass. In any case with their difference and their social status, Rachel will be only the umpteenth person that Maxine will never be friends with.

 **...**

 **A/N: Do not worry, I know you must have noticed the differences in events between Chloe & Max in the middle of the story with Farewell, and I'm aware of that. I took the liberty to change those moments a bit, with the anxieties of Max, and Deck Nine did not hesitate to put a lot of inconsistency in BTS-Farewell, so FUCK THEM! He had better manage.**

 **That's it, this oneshot is my contribution to "Farewell" from what it inspired me, really thanks to Deck Nine for bringing us answers ... even though they could have done another bonus episode on Rachel's last day Amber (in her skin). For me it would have been perfect.**

 **Let me know if you like reading to right at the beginning and end, I have never tried or read a story this way and I would like to know your opinion to see if I continue to make short passages like this. And also if you do not understand this story well, I can understand that some readers are lost.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it, see you next time!**


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